[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 250 (Tuesday, December 30, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79902-79903]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30890]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Phoebe A. Hearst 
Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, 
CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act, (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3005, of the 
intent to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the Phoebe A. 
Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, 
Berkeley, CA, that meet the definition of ``sacred objects'' under 25 
U.S.C. 3001.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the cultural 
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    In April 1952, seven cultural items were removed by Gordon L. 
Grosscup from a cave described in museum documents as ``Prayer Cave, 
NV-Ly-3.'' Mr. Grosscup donated the cultural items to the museum later 
that same year. The seven cultural items are four ``Prayer Sticks'' 
(catalog number 2-28953); one ``For-shaft of dart'' (catalog number 2-
28954); one lot of fragments described as ``White paint?'' (catalog 
number 2-28955); and one item described as a ``Stick, charred at one 
end'' (catalog number 2-28956).

[[Page 79903]]

    In an article written in 1974, Mr. Grosscup described the site:
    The special site, 26-Ly-3, is located not far from Fort Churchill. 
It is a cave high up on a cliff above the Carson River. Small wooden 
sticks are stuck into the crevices in the walls of the cave in great 
numbers and there are a number of white pictographs of humans, most of 
which are very obviously male, painted on the smooth rock surfaces. 
This cave is also known to the modern Northern Paiute as having 
medicinal properties.
    Site NV-Ly-03 is a complex of caves along a cliff face, above the 
Carson River. The site is near Fort Churchill and is located on private 
property. These caves are within the traditional territory of the 
Northern Paiute and are only a few miles from the Yerington Reservation 
per ``Ethnographic Notes on the Northern Paiute of Western Nevada,'' by 
Willard Z. Park. The museum's professional staff consulted with 
representatives of the Yerington Paiute Tribe of the Yerington Colony & 
Campbell Ranch, Nevada, who reaffirmed the tribe's belief that Prayer 
Cave and its contents are sacred, and that the cave and its contents 
are part of on-going ceremonies and beliefs. A representative of the 
Yerington Paiute Tribe of the Yerington Colony & Campbell Ranch, Nevada 
has also confirmed that the sticks (catalog numbers 2-28954 and 2-
28956) are prayer sticks, despite their not having been identified as 
such by museum records. Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology 
professional staff has confirmed the affiliation of the cultural items 
to the Yerington Paiute Tribe of the Yerington Colony & Campbell Ranch, 
Nevada through published written documentation.
    Officials of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(C), the seven cultural 
items are specific ceremonial objects needed by traditional Native 
American religious leaders for the practice of traditional Native 
American religions by their present-day adherents. Officials of the 
Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology also have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared group 
identity that can be reasonably traced between the sacred objects and 
the Yerington Paiute Tribe of the Yerington Colony & Campbell Ranch, 
Nevada.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the sacred objects should contact Dr. 
Judd King, Museum Director, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, 
103 Kroeber Hall, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 
94720-3712, telephone (510) 642-3682, before January 29, 2009. 
Repatriation of the sacred objects to the Yerington Paiute Tribe of the 
Yerington Colony & Campbell Ranch, Nevada may proceed after that date 
if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology is responsible for 
notifying the Yerington Paiute Tribe of the Yerington Colony & Campbell 
Ranch, Nevada that this notice has been published.

    Dated: November 19, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-30890 Filed 12-29-08; 8:45 am]
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